Computer systems generally comprise a storage management file system to enable a user to store and retrieve information. For example, a file system generally enables a user to create, modify and delete files; identify stored files by a symbolic name rather than specifying a physical storage device name; and view the information logically rather than with a more detailed physical view. The file system generally manages information via a device driver which manages a storage abstraction of a storage device. For example, based on a file system layout on the storage device, the device driver manages storage and retrieval of information using file system metadata information.
Network file sharing is a method for transferring information over a physical network medium via a transport protocol. A transport protocol generally comprises a network file sharing protocol that enables remote operations such as opening, creating, reading, writing, and closing data files. In operation, a file sharing server generally runs on top of an existing file system such that network file sharing requests or calls are passed from the file sharing server to the file system. Because file systems generally comprise the same set of functions (i.e., open, read, create, write, etc.), a network sharing server can run on top of virtually any file system. Thus, in operation, based on the file system layout of a local storage device, the file system enables remote data management operations by responding to network file sharing calls received from a network sharing server.
However, various types of storage mediums and associated devices, especially peripheral devices such as compact disc (CD) recorders, digital versatile disk (DVD) recorders, and other types of peripheral device recording systems, do not readily accommodate writing or recording data across a network. For example, blank CDs and DVDs generally do not have a file system layout recorded thereon. In operation, recording information to blank CDs and DVDs generally comprises “pre-mastering” such that the content to be stored on the blank medium is known ahead of time. Thus, there is no format operation performed on the medium and no file system metadata recorded onto the medium. A software application for writing information to a medium such as a blank CD or DVD generally creates an image of the content that will be stored on the blank medium block-by-block and communicates directly with a disk driver to issue commands to write the content to the medium in this sequence of blocks, thereby bypassing any file system. Thus, because the file system is bypassed, a network file sharing infrastructure does not enable remote data management.